Burned Fish
by helenamarkos
Summary: If at first you don't succeed... SxR Mature, Oneshot


Title: Burned Fish

Pairing: S x R

Word Count: 1374

Rating: MATURE!!

Summary: If at first you don't succeed...

_Written for the LJ community MFSanctuary_

She smells smoke. As her vision clears from sleep, she realizes that the smell is coming from the entrance of the cave she shared with Sesshomaru the night before. His silhouette is softened in the early morning light as he bends over the fire, shirtless, his expression grave as he uses a gnarled, white stick to poke a large trout laying on the coals. It takes a moment for the scene to register in her mind.

"What are you doing?" she asks as she sits up, pulling her kimono closed at the front and wrapping her arms around her middle.

Sesshomaru continues to stare at the fish on the fire, prodding it a few times as he answers her. "Making you breakfast."

Rin blinks, honestly surprised by the answer. "Why?" she wonders out loud, truly confused. In all the years she has known Sesshomaru, even when she accompanied him in his travels when she was young, she never knew him to cook anything. She couldn't imagine him doing something so mundane.

"Because I am poor at apologizing," he replies quietly. He still will not look at her.

Rin blushes in the uncomfortable silence that follows. This was not how she imagined it would be. Not after all of those years of yearning, of sly glances and gifts with double meanings. He had given her time with her own people to decide, and she had made her choice. Of course it was him, it had always been him, from the moment that she opened her eyes on that lonely dirt path and took her first breath for a second time. What they had defied even _his_ rigid principles. Their first night together — as husband and wife — it should have been perfect.

But it was hardly that. Neither had any experience with intimacy, Sesshomaru especially. He had spent his entire life in the pursuit of goals that opposed the concept whole heartedly. The whole evening had been uncomfortable and awkward, and though Rin had expected the pain, it did nothing to help the situation. She is very sure that she may have slapped him at one point.

"You don't need to apologize," she says, positive that between the prior evening's stress and Sesshomaru's gesture, she is going to cry. Rin blinks against her blurring vision. Damn it all anyway, it's not like that sort of thing matters to her.

Sesshomaru sighs quietly through his nose and spears the fish between the eyes, lifting it off of the flame. He crosses the space between them quietly and sits down at the edge of their makeshift bed, offering the dangling fish to her. Rin doesn't have the heart to tell him that he was supposed to cook it _on_ the stick.

"It appears that I am not very good at cooking," he remarks as she takes the fish from him. The half laid directly on the fire was burned through, its skin flaking off like black snow. Drawing her legs underneath herself to kneel next to him, she leans forward and takes a bite from the half that was not charcoal.

She chews thoughtfully, the weight of his gaze on the side of her head. "You know," she says off handedly between a second bite, "it's actually rather good."

Sesshomaru huffs beside her. "You are a terrible liar."

Rin sighs and sets her breakfast down on the stone floor, brushing her hands together to get the bits of scales off. Turning towards Sesshomaru, she regards him seriously. "I would never lie to you."

"You are attempting to spare my feelings."

She sits for a moment, contemplating his remark. Taking his hand in hers, she brushes her fingers over the smooth surface of his claws, the calloused texture of his fingers, quietly marveling at how small her own hands seem in comparison.

"This hand is made for holding a sword," she says softly. Though she knows he is looking at her, she concentrates on his hand, limp in her possession, lightly running her finger along his palm and down the inside of his wrist. Though it is probably her imagination, she thinks she feels him shudder slightly. "But how long did it take you to learn how to use that sword? Decades? Centuries?" Rin threads their fingers together, raising her face to his.

"Nothing is ever perfect the first time," she says, holding his even gaze. His cheeks color slightly, and he looks tempted to glance away. Quicker than she thought she was capable of, she kneels up to catch his lips before he has the chance. At first he is still beneath her. Determined, she runs her tongue along the seam of his mouth. There is a heartbeat of awkwardness before he enthusiastically opens up to her, pulling her flush against him with his free hand, their fingers still threaded between them.

Rin tilts her head back, their tongues tangling and moans into his mouth, a soft ache building between her thighs. Suddenly she is tumbling back onto his pelt. Her kimono falls open, leaving her bare, his eyes on her are bright, burnished gold in the pale morning light. She writhes underneath his gaze, and pulls his hand up to lay it on her breast, using her own hand to guide his as she arches into his palm.

Sesshomaru's lips travel from her mouth to her throat to her shoulders and back again in a trail of tender nips and licks that make her spine shiver. Rin reaches down to loosen the ties at his waist, suddenly very eager as the moisture builds between her legs.

Damnable knots.

"Sesshomaru," she moans breathily, frustrated with her less than nimble fingers. He pauses briefly in his ministrations to undo the ties with a quiet, inarticulate noise. Letting his hakama fall to his knees, he leans over her again, grazing the underside of her breast with his fangs before taking her nipple into his mouth. Rin makes a strangled noise in the back of her throat, and brushes her nails along the shells of his sharp ears before cradling his head to her, as though hoping to keep him there forever.

His erection brushes lightly against her thigh, and she realizes that she cannot wait any longer.

Pulling his head up to hers for a long kiss, she reaches between them, coating her fingers on her slick sex, and grips his erection. His face falls to the hollow of her throat, but she can feel his jaw clench as his chest rumbles with an inaudible sound.

"Sesshomaru," she breathes, "_please._"

As he enters her, she quietly braces herself for the pain, but it never comes. When his hips come to rest against hers, she lifts her legs up to cross her ankles behind him. For a moment neither moves.

He is looking at her with an expression so intense, so unguarded, that she feels like the only person left in the world.

"Rin?" he asks through clenched teeth, obviously holding back for her sake. She is still wrapped tightly around him, but there is no discomfort, only the heady feeling of him inside her.

Rin smiles sweetly and rolls her hips; Sesshomaru shuts his eyes and sighs languidly.

They find a rhythm. She comes, wrapping her arms around his neck, shuddering and sighing into his soft, white hair. He tumbles soon afterward, hugging her to his chest and growling low in his throat.

Sesshomaru rolls them over, so they are still connected. Rin lays her had above his heart and listens as it resumes a slow, steady beat. The cave is silent except for the quiet birdsong drifting in from the forest. A long moment of contented silence passes between them, and Rin finds her mind drifting aimlessly as Sesshomaru traces circles into the small of her back with a gentle claw.

"There is still another fish uncooked," Sesshomaru remarks quietly. Raising her head, she finds him staring at the ceiling of the cave with a far off look.

"Oh?" she says.

"I could try to cook that for you, I may meet with more success a second time."

Rin smiles cheekily. "You probably will," she laughs, leaning up to kiss him.


End file.
